Deccan Herald
Bangalore, Dec 13: A woman tourist from New Delhi was drugged and gangraped by a taxi driver and his friends at an unknown destination in the city over four days.
According to a complaint lodged with the Airport Police, the 26-year-old woman landed in Bangalore on December 6 on a delayed Go Air flight. Around 11:50 pm, she hired a taxi, a Corolla, to a star hotel where a room reservation had been confirmed. However, upon reaching the hotel, she found that the hotel was full and was forced to return to the taxi to look for alternative accommodation. The taxi driver offered to take her to another hotel on Whitefield Road. On the way, he convinced the woman to stay in a service apartment for the night and later look out for hotel accommodation.
The next morning, when she tried to get up from the bed, she realised that she had been drugged. The taxi driver is alleged to have raped her repeatedly and then, his friends followed suit. More than five people are said to have visited her everyday. According to a senior police official, some well-heeled men were among those who took part in the atrocity. The cab driver’s cell phone is being sieved in a bid to apprehend the culprits.
The gang also took pictures of the lady to buy her silence. The taxi driver later brought in “customers” and made some money. The woman’s ordeal ended when one of the culprits took pity and released her.
She managed to reach the police commissioner’s office on December 10, where she met the joint commissioner (crime) and narrated the horrific incident. The police official then put her onto the DCP (Crime). The police, instead of registering the lady’s complaint and sending her for a medical check-up, roped in a local television channel for the investigation and later nabbed the culprits. According to sources, four rapists have been arrested but the main accused is still at large. The lady says she can identify four of the culprits. The police finally registered a case late Wednesday night.
Police are also verifying whether a missing complaint was registered in Delhi as the woman was held incommunicado by the perpetrators of the crime. Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission is all set to issue a notice to the police team.
WORSE THAN ANIMALS
*A 26-year-old woman tourist lands in Bangalore Airport on December 5.
*The Go Air New-Delhi Bangalore flight is delayed and lands at 11:55 pm.
*The tourist hires a cab to go to a star hotel.
*After learning that the hotel is full, she goes in search of another hotel.
*The driver puts her in a service apartment
*The next morning she is doped and raped